By Abby Montanez and Victoria Keenan
There’s plenty of street food to be found in Hudson County, but how many vendors can say they’re serving up traditional Vietnamese street food style sandwiches? Introducing Modern Banh, a delivery-only Hoboken/Jersey City restaurant putting their own spin on Vietnamese dishes. From handcrafted Banh Mi sandwiches, rice bowls and salads, Modern Banh uses only the highest quality ingredients to create all of their meals, including organic vegetables and grass-fed, antibiotic and hormone free proteins.
From the same creative foodie behind Graze and Braise, Chef Ayaz Adiguzelli single handedly owns and operates his Jersey City based commercial kitchen. With help from Choc-O-Pain, Adiguzelli sources his bread locally, which is baked fresh daily and is specially made for each sandwich. Adiguzelli even goes as far as pickling his own carrots, daikon radishes and cucumbers in-house with his signature brine. Incorporating his own background, you can also find Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavors at Modern Banh, adding a special twist to classic dishes.
This week, our lunch box was stuffed with some of Chef Adiguzelli’s favorite Modern Bahn dishes. For the Banh Mi section of our lunch, we tried the Roast Pork, with pickled carrot, pickled daikon, cucumber, cilantro, and jalapeno. The delicious BBQ Pork was a crowd favorite, with pickled carrot, daikon, onion, cucumber, jalapeno, cilantro, and bbq sauce. The Chicken Shawarma had pickled carrot, daikon, cucumber, cilantro, jalapeno, and white sauce, and the Hamburger, with pickled carrot, daikon, and onion, cucumber, jalapeno, cilantro, and Sriracha ketchup. The Falafel, an option for veggie lovers, was another crowd favorite, with pickled carrot, daikon, and onion, cucumber, jalapeno, cilantro, and white sauce.
We also had a selection of their fresh, tasty rice bowls, topped with the same pickled vegetables, herbs, and sauces as their sandwiches. Their BBQ Pork, Curry Beef, and Falafel bowls were also favorites amongst the staff. We also tried the Hamburger, Roasted Pork Bahn Mi, and the Chicken Shawarma.
Modern Bahn is partnered up with FastBoy Delivery, who offers delivery from your favorite restaurants to your doorstep. And if you’re anything like us, then make sure to save room for dessert because Modern Banh also partners up with Jersey City’s famous Baonanas banana pudding. Though you can order a ton of flavors from Baonanas website, Modern Bahn exclusively sells their #Matchananas, which is banana pudding infused with Matcha green tea powder. It’s the perfect ending to one of the Digest’s favorite lunches.
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.